Sunday, February 14, 2010

Not So Expensive Apothecary Jars

Do you remember the Shanty2Chic Apothecary Jars that I have been wanting to make? Well, I finally made them....four months later but who's keeping tracking anyway?

I bought the candle sticks @ Michael's with 50% off Coupons so that they were only about $1.50 a piece and then removed the metal part from the center of each of them.

The circular base pieces were only $.50 a piece with a 50% coupon.

For the jars...I used pickle jars. If you haven't noticed, I'm a cheap....I'm frugal. These were free...or at least the jars were...I did have to drop some change for the pickles.

The labels peel off really easily if you soak them in the sink. As for the left over glue and date stamping, it was necessary to use the commercial strength goo off.

As for the ridges on the lids...

I found these Christmas Ornaments from our local Basha's grocery store for $.10 a piece. The metal piece around the heart was bent and I figured I could use it to disguise the lids.

Our kitchen scissors cut right through the metal.

Now for a word of caution. Keep these away from the children...they will try to use them as weapons.

After I sprayed the lids with Rust-Oleum Flat Black Paint, I got to work and hot glued the metal around the lids.

When I sprayed the metal, I also sprayed the sticks and the bases. I removed part of one of the candlesticks to make it lower than the other two.

I got to work distressing the bases and candle sticks with a cheap sanding block from Home Depot.

I dusted them off with one of Mike's old t-shirts. Don't be fooled and buy one of those packs of rags from the hardware store (like I was before) because I'm sure you too can find one that is beyond it's time limit in your husband's dresser.

Next is the tedious part....hot glue twine (Target One Spot...$1)

around your lids again....and again...and again...and again...you get the point.....

When you finally get finished with this step, get your finials ready for the finale. (Wait, did I forget to mention these earlier?) I bough a two pack of large and a two pack of small unfinished finials from Lowes for about $3 a pack.

I used two of the large and one small for this project. Remove the screws and then Gorilla Glue a finial on the center of each lid.

Next, glue the sticks in the center of each circular base. Apply glue to the top of the candlesticks and center a jar on top of each on. Let dry.

And here they are:

Now do these look like pickle jars to you?

I have them in the dining room and I am thinking I can use another set in my bathroom...